Vienna and I took our first road trip together. First to Windsor to visit Nan (aka: Great Grandma)followed by taking my Dad (aka: Papa)to Chicago for the Marathon!!! It was quite the journey, but well worth it. Let's just say that 4 women over the age of 80 all staying in 1 home with me and Vienna in the same room as my Nan was, well, for a lack of better words....a nightmare. I managed to stay sane for the 1.5 days by myself until my Dad arrived and luckily we were able to leave that night so I didn't have to be submitted to an institution. I am so glad that Nan was able to see Vienna, that is the reason I went up there.
Dad with his Mom and 2 aunts, Bunny and Hazel and of course Vienna.
Vienna and I with Nan and her 2 sisters, Irene had already gone home.
Vienna and her Great Grandma, they had so much fun together (don't you just love Nan's shirt...she is always so stylin)
Chicago...Chicago was marvelous. Hanging out with my Dad (Papa) was so nice. He is so cute with Vienna, she just loves him. We stayed quite a ways out of Chicago and took the transit system in, which was quite the experience in a city like Chicago. We got hit up lots for money, had a horribly loud drunk lady on the train who needed to Pee and we got hit-up by every homeless person in Chicago (at least it felt that way, I think we had signs on our foreheads that said, "We love the homeless and trust that you are not lying to us.) It was great! Besides those minor details, downtown was gorgeous. We walked A LOT and got to taste an official "Chicago Dog" which has chilis, mustard only, and a few other random things on it not typical to a hot dog. it was really good. Of course we also got to eat authentic "Chicago Deep Dish Pizza" and I loved it.
Chicago is laid out right on the lake so it was neat cause it felt like we were on the ocean, the weather was uncharacteristically warm and I came planned for winter so my Dad bought me flip flops to help me from dying. We had a great time!
Just a bit about the Marathon - this is one of the 5 big ones and my Dad wants to run all of them. He has already done Boston, he has New York next and then the next 2 are in Berlin and London, which might be a bit trickier to get to. Anyway, this marathon qualifies 45,000 runners, which is tons!!! There were over 1.7million spectators. To say the least it was BUSY!!! Vienna was in her Snuggli, right close to me. It was such a neat experience. The neatest part about it is that it was held on 10/10/10, but it was also my Dad's 10th marathon. WAY TO GO PADRE!!! I will start with a halfer first. Thanks for a great time!!!
Vienna and I on our way to see Papa finish his marathon
Papa and Vienna on the train on the way home from the big run! You did great ol' man!
The park where the run started and finished the day before the big event. This is Buckingham Fountain, it was huge and really ornate. Downtown Chicago is Gotham City in the Batman movies, can't you see it???
This was a billboard at the Marathon Expo, which is great advertising because living on the Great Lakes means there is something called "Lake Effect Snow" I have yet to experience it but I will let you know what it is like this winter.
This giant Lego Lion was out on the street in downtown Chicago, it was super cool!
To top it all off I came home to a very SPECIAL SURPRISE, Mike had cleaned, organized and painted the basement, which was a huge project I have been dreading. You are the BESTEST EVER BABE!!!
